Tuscarawas County should want the state to change the way it draws congressional and state legislative district lines. The county has been sliced in two, after all.

But the change you’ll find on your fall ballot — state Issue 2 — is not the solution.

It addresses problems in the current system by creating other, equally serious problems. The Times-Reporter’s editorial board urges voters to reject Issue 2.

The current system of redistricting after each

10-year census boils down to this: To the victor (the political party in power) goes the spoils. Tuscarawas County was among the big losers in last year’s Republican-designed redistricting, which was possibly the worst indulgence in gerrymandering in the state’s history.

For more than 200 years, Tuscarawas County had been included in one congressional district, with one person representing the interests of its residents in Washington. The entire county was part of the 18th District for the last 46 years.

Now — thanks to the new district lines — Dover, New Philadelphia and the northern part of the county are part of the 7th District, while the southern portion of the county, including Uhrichsville, Dennison and Newcomerstown is part of the 6th District.

The League of Women Voters has proposed

Issue 2 as an amendment to the Ohio Constitution (which, if passed, could be altered only through passage of other amendments by voters statewide). The convoluted, cumbersome process dictated in Issue 2 doesn’t, as advertised, take politics out of the process. Instead, it drives politics into different channels and unwisely injects politics into one unwelcome place — the courts.

Issue 2 would require the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court to choose by lot eight state appellate judges who would, in turn, select 42 people (14 Republicans, 14 Democrats, 14 independents) from among the applicants for a 12-member redistricting commission. The leader of each party in the Ohio House then would reduce the pool to 24 members. Then the eight appellate judges would step in again, choosing nine of the 24. The nine then would choose the final three. At each step, the decision makers would have to keep an equal number of Democrats, Republicans and independents.

A long list of Ohioans could not serve on the commission, including state and federal officeholders, their families and those who had held state and federal offices recently. But local and county politicians could serve.

The most serious flaw in the process is the requirement that judges enter this most political of arenas. Not only does it compromise the courts at the beginning of the process, it creates the potential for conflicts if lawsuits arise, as they surely will.

In addition, Issue 2 doesn’t set a ceiling on the cost of the process, including what’s paid to commission members. The Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants opposes the issue, calling it “not fiscally responsible.”

Page 2 of 2 -
To the League’s credit, Issue 2 finally has focused Ohioans’ interest on reform of the redistricting process. But this is not the right solution. Vote no on Issue 2.